Black Rose
by Circe Fallon
Summary: Jessica and Risika both go after a vampire with whom they have personal grudges. No sex, but there's some language and a lot of violence.
1. Hunted

Talia stood at the beginning of the end. She could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. She was worn and weary. Each breath felt like it may be her last. The metal of the gun in her hand was so dark that it almost shone. "Damien," she called into the darkness. She tried to sound helpless. It wasn't hard. Her hand shook and she could here her own pulse as an ever-accelerating drumbeat. "Damien, I give up. You win." Where was he? The fight was almost over. She was going to win. She had to. "Damien?" She rounded a corner and opened a door. She was going to get that evil motherfucker. "Where are you?" Her voice shook with terror, part real and part acted.  
  
She stepped into the room. She said a prayer to the Goddess and readjusted the strap of her shoulder bag. It was full of wooden stakes. The idea was to shoot him where it would do some damage and then spear him before he could recupperate. She had never been more scared in her life. And then she felt him. With a sense of dread that was almost palpable, she knew he was there. Behind her.  
  
He had her.  
  
* * *  
  
The Girl wasn't there and that automatically made Risika suspicious. The Girl had been tracking her for the past month, waiting for her chance to spring. Sometimes Risika let her stalk, but more often she merely shook her off, annoyed but unwilling to go through the trouble of frightening The Girl off. She was always waiting here for her, and the fact that she wasn't there was oddly unnerving. Maybe the girl was smarter than she appeared. She didn't think so, but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out. But she couldn't let herself become too distracted. She had bigger fish to fry. The black rose marking the trail leading to New Mayhem glistened with morning dew, and there had been a time when she would have noticed. There had been a time when she would have cared.  
  
Right now she was more concerned with this new guy, Damien, who had been wreaking havoc among the witching families. This didn't bother her much, though it had Aubrey's little concubine, Jessica all wound up. Evidently he had gotten some of her kin. That could have been a mistake. As young as Jessica was, she was suprisingly powerful.  
  
But pissing her off had been an even bigger mistake. It had been almost two weeks since Jager intercepted her during her hunting and informed her that her brother, Alexander had been killed by a vampire who flung a knife at him from behind without warning. He hadn't felt a thing. He hadn't provoked anyone either. Either Damien knew that Alexander was her brother and attacked him for that reason, or he had somehow found out that Alexander was a Tryste witch. Different as they may have been, Alexander had been her brother and she had loved him even if she couldn't be with him. She owed him this much. She owed him vengeance.  
  
* * *  
  
Las Noches is busies this time of night. Midnight. The witching hour. Risika feels on edge, and the littlest thing could push her over. Something was going to happen soon because it must. She just wished she could hurry it up. She was relieved and strangely calm when the figure slipped out of the masses to stand by her. "Risika," it acknowleged.  
  
"Jessica," she replied. She could see her reflection in the bottles behind the counter. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's dangerous to talk to strangers?"  
  
"We're hardly strangers. I think I know you better than I know myself."  
  
Risika grunted. She didn't doubt it, but she was not at all happy about it. Before Jessica became a vampire she had published books about dreams she had, dreams about Riska's life and Aubrey's life. She made a lot of enemies without realizing it, and in the end was made a vampire by Aubrey to save her life. That definately did not make her Risika's favorite person, though she couldn't bring herself to flat-out hate the girl.  
  
"What do you want?" Risika asked, sounding disinterested, though curiousity knawed at her.  
  
"An alliance." 


	2. Dark Prince

Risika scowled. "What could an alliance with you possibly accomplish? I work on my own."  
  
Jessica laughed. The sound was suprisingly bitter. "I know what you want, Risika, and I want it too. Do you think that just because I 've become a vampire my dreams have stopped? I know stuff about him that could make your hair curl. I also know that Jager didn't tell you the whole story."  
  
Risika arched one eyebrow. "Oh? And what is the whole story, praytell?"  
  
"You give me protection and I give you information. That's the deal. You can have all the info you need, and if it's known that I'm working with you, no one will bug me."  
  
"And what's wrong with Aubrey's protection."  
  
"What do you care? It doesn't matter anyway."  
  
Risika had a feeling that it mattered a great deal, but she would find out in her own time. She held out her hand for Jessica to shake.  
  
* * *  
  
The entire room seemed to swirl, like she had just stood up too fast and gotten a head rush. The earth seemed to tilt. A hadsome young man with blond hair and blue eyes was dressing himself in an uncomfortable looking tunic and leggings so restricting that it was like he was wearing nylons. He looked no older than fifteen.  
  
Without warning, a form appeared behind him. "Dark Prince," it greeted the boy. He turned around and scowled.  
  
"Go away."  
  
"You owe me, Dark Prince. We had a deal."  
  
"We don't have one anymore. You didn't hold up your end of the bargain."  
  
"Yes I did. The death of your sister was a mere triviality. I did as I said I would. She just got in the way. Pay me what is due."  
  
"I'll give you what is due," the young man snarled and pulled a wooden stake from the bedside table. He lunged at the figure with an amazing amount of agility for a mortal. She wondered if he really was mortal. The dark figure came closer to the lamplight and she could now clearly make out the features. She recognized her as Ather, one of the oldest vampires. She grasped the young man's wrist and twisted him around. Her face showed suprise though when he flipped her over his shoulder and pinned her to the ground, stake poised over her heart. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't impale you right now?"  
  
She turned the full power of her gaze on him and was once again suprised that he didn't flinch away from it. Realization dawned on her and she suddenly knew what this angelic looking blond-haired young man was. "Powerful as you are, you will someday die. I can give you immortality."  
  
She slit her wrist and offered it to him. He took it hungrily.  
  
Jessica woke with a start and wondered if she should tell Risika. He had been made by the same one who had made Risika, and he had been something more than human to begin with. She decided she would keep this bit of information to herself until it would prove useful to her, and see if she could possibly discover what it was that Damien was.  
  
* * *  
  
There was a new face outside of Las Noches. It was powerful, and tearstained. Haughty yet broken. She went all but unnoticed, but someone found her familiar. Jessica had seen her in her dreams. There was a chapter written about her on her computer. The girl stood when she saw she was being stared at. She was gone before Jessica could get to her. She hadn't thought that after what she saw that Damien would leave Talia alive. 


	3. Moonless Night

Sorry I haven't had time to update. Midterms and other homework-related interferences.  
  
  
  
Talia shuddered as she walked, looking scared and frightened and not much like a witch. Jessica followed her out of Las Noches and out of New Mayhem through the woods in a zigzagging path that made her lose track of where she was. She had not quite mastered the art of walking silently over dried leaves, and she made a noise every so often, but Talia went on oblivious. Jessica thought that she was carrying something, but in the near moonless night she could not tell. She squinted as hard as she could to try and see. She stopped paying attention to her feet and a very large branch snapped with a sound like someone dropping a textbook in a high school hallway.  
  
Talia whirled around to face her. Her eyes became wide and scared. "Go back. He'll kill you! Go back!"  
  
"I'm a vampire. Why do you care if he kills me?" Jessica asked.  
  
"Because he'll kill me for allowing myself to get followed." Her eyes darted back and forth and back and forth through the shadows of the tall pine trees.  
  
"Who's he?"  
  
"No one!" She yelled in a panic. She had to get rid of her! She turned around to run, but Jessica was much faster. She whipped her around and caught her by the wrists.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Damien."  
  
"What is Damien?"  
  
"A vampire," Talia winced in pain as Jessica squeezed her wrists nearly to the point of breaking. "But he's not just a vampire! He's a-"  
  
Something whistled past Jessica's ear and Talia went limp against her, an small silver knife embedded in her head. Jessica immediately dropped her spun around to meet whoever was there. It was too dark out and she couldn't see him until he had her by her own wrists.  
  
"What were you doing trying to interrupt my servant in her duties?" an almost amused voice asked her. His breath smelt like spearmint gum. "I think you need a lesson in manners." He was extremely strong and easily forced her down to the ground by her arms.  
  
And then something grabbed her roughly from behind, and she was moving very fast. Damien didn't try to follow. He was sure he would run into her again. She would probably still be in need of a lesson too.  
  
Risika dropped Jessica onto the hard ground like a sack of potatoes. She was heavier than she looked.  
  
"That was very stupid."  
  
Jessica rubbed her wrists. "Like I need you to tell me." She put her head in one hand. "And I was so close too!"  
  
Risika snorted and stalked off. 


End file.
